Patti Newton spent most of her Saturday with her husband at his hospital bedside, before leaving shortly after 7pm.
As she pulled into her driveway, she received a telephone call telling her that her husband of 46 years had taken his last breath just 10 minutes after her departure.
"I missed him, just. But maybe he didn't want me to be there for his last breath, so he probably left without me there. Which is probably a good thing," she said.
For a man who spent so much of his life in full public view, his last moments were spent in the seclusion of palliative care.
But, as the Newton family awoke this morning, they were inundated with messages of love for the late Bert Newton.
"All our hearts are breaking, but the outpouring of love has been fabulous," she said.
"I think, if he's looking down on us today, he would be just so thrilled to hear the Prime Minister and all the people that he admired so much making these lovely statements."
And, as the tributes flow for one of Australia's greatest entertainers, one word has been repeated about the man that graced television screens in homes across the country for more than six decades: irreplaceable.
The death of Bert Newton at age 83 leaves a void in the Australian entertainment landscape, with those who knew him best reflecting on the laughs, the memories and the loveable performer known as Moonface.
To his peers and colleagues, Newton was destined to be a television star from the very moment he stepped in front of a camera.
Longtime friend and colleague Pete Smith said Newton's talent was evident from the very beginning..
"In the early days of television, those lucky enough to get an appearance were learning on camera," he said.
"There was one person who wasn't learning. He already had that wonderful talent, and his name was Bert Newton."
But, for someone with so much onscreen charisma, it was his rare gift of being able to share the spotlight that made him truly special.
"If you were performing on television, even just doing a simple commercial, Bert made you feel as though you were the only person that counted. He did that with everybody, from Graham Kennedy and Don Lane on down," Smith said.
"He was very generous. If he knew you were on a roll, that you were being funny, he'd just let you go," said John-Michael Howson, who worked alongside Newton as a reporter on Good Morning Australia.
Wherever Newton went, the spotlight followed.
His move to Network 10 in 1992 to host Good Morning Australia brought fanfare and attention that his new co-workers were not accustomed to.
Newton made it cool to watch morning shows.
"Before that time, it was a little bit of a graveyard. He'd been at Channel 9, he'd been at Channel 7. He'd been primetime and suddenly, everybody was watching us," said Laura Mercer, who worked as a producer with Newton on Good Morning Australia.
"It gave the rest of us a career."
The show's musical director, John Foreman, said the 12 years he spent working with Newton was a highlight of his career.
"I loved working with Bert so much. It was such a great time in my life and such a great time for everybody [who] worked on that show," he said.
"He knew every detail of how television worked and we'll never see his like again."
Newton brought his workhorse attitude to the show and instilled the same work ethic into his team.
Together, they filmed more than 3,000 episodes of Good Morning Australia, producing 12 and a half hours of television each week ,with Bert's charm and a comforting promise to see us all tomorrow.
When the cameras stopped rolling, a different side of Bert could be seen.
"I think, sometimes, he would be a little bit quieter behind the scenes in the dressing room, because he probably needed a break from talking to so many people," Ms Mercer said.
Colleagues would see his gentle and generous nature come to the fore, from small notes of encouragement or kind gifts and words to those in need.
For colleagues such as Rhonda Burchmore, it was Newton's loyalty as a friend that she will cherish most.
"One of my fondest memories was probably the lowest point in my career when I got all this incredible flak for opening Melbourne's casino so many years ago," Burchmore said.
"I nearly wanted to give up the business and it was actually Bert who pulled me out of that trench and said, 'Come on, you're not going to let those people get the best of you'.
It was a side of Newton that many who grew up watching him may not have seen.
"He wasn't a gregarious person," Howson said.
"He wasn't someone you'd see at big parties. The curtain would come down, and he and Patti would go."
It was his family that was Newton's true love, including granddaughters Lola and Eva, who Patti said were his pride and joy.
"Lola and Eva have been the love of his life. That's why he kept going, I think, but he realised that he just couldn't do it anymore," Patti said.
And while the Australian public was enamoured with Newton's pairings with Graham Kennedy and Don Lane, his greatest partnership was undoubtedly with his wife, Patti.
"I have to think that he's at peace and that he's not in any pain. Nothing else can hurt him," she said.
"He was just the most wonderful man."
Despite all the fame and accolades, deep down Bert Newton remained a boy from Fitzroy, fiercely proud and loyal to his hometown.
"I used to say to him, 'You could have made it in the States', but he didn't want to go. Melbourne was his home. He didn't even go to Sydney," Howson said.
"The Melbourne audience loved him. He was one of our own. He was sort of like the Shrine of Remembrance. He was part of our country, part of our city."
It is only fitting then that the boy from Fitzroy will be given the full honours of a state funeral, a gesture that Patti said Bert would love.
While the curtain has come down and the spotlight has dimmed, Newton will have the opportunity for one last encore at St Patrick's Cathedral, where the public can say goodbye to a legend of the Australian entertainment industry.
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2021-10-31 08:28:44Z
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